Jersey Girl had her engine serviced today,
and after having been given a clean bill of health @Saintly Fish and I took her for her first run out on the Solent. Wind was 8-9mph from the NE, so not flat calm but plenty flat enough for a play.
We took a couple of mackerel rods with us, more out of hope than expectation...
But after a couple of fruitless drifts we decided to move further up the Solent.
Upon finding a patch of smooth water it would have been rude not to see what she could do, so we opened her up and watched the plotter as the knots climbed.
After making north of 30kts we hit a rough patch and for a moment Neil gets airborne, floating like an astronaut in zero gravity 🤣. After coming back down to earth I give him the helm and we try another run - we make 35kts with rpms to spare but we run out of smooth water so back off the throttle.
Neil then has a play with the helm and turns her into a series of tight turns...
...at 25kts! She grips the water all the way round, and round, and round! Here's a pic of our trail.
Eventually we head back into the marina, stopping to fill up at the fuel jetty. A few little jobs identified (volts could be higher so need to check the House is receiving a charge, need to figure out the best place for the new rod holders, need to tweak the angle of the Active Imaging transducer as it was losing bottom above 10kts) but all in all not a bad way to spend a Friday! Massive thanks to Neil for being my wingman today and for generously buying lunch and celebratory beverages 👍👍 Cheers!